Earlier today, Google announced the launch of a new tool called Swiffy, able to convert Flash animations to a more iOS-friendly format, HTML5. The move is surprising to say the least, as Google and Apple are not exactly the friends they used to be, and Google has gradually become closer to Adobe over the last year or so.
Either way, Swiffy is another proof that Flash is on its way out. While the tool is still fairly limited, it is already able to convert a slew of Flash files to HTML5, and yields impressive results, especially on iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad.

Flash animation converted via Google Swiffy

If you are looking for the nitty gritty details about Swiffy, here is how it works: the tool converts Flash animations in two phases. First, the Swiffy compiler processes the Flash file, and generates a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file. Then, a client-side JavaScript runtime loads that JSON file, and renders it using HTML, scalable vector graphics (SVG) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). In other words, Swiffy transforms Flash to a format supported natively by modern browsers, without the need of any plug-ins.
All Webkit-based browsers are already supported, namely Safari, Mobile Safari and Chrome – Internet Explorer support is not available yet, as Microsoft’s browser is still lagging in the HTML5 department.
Nothing against Adobe, but Flash will soon be a thing of the past…